This invention relates generally to the field of jewelry, such as necklaces and bracelets, and more particularly to an improved form of adjustable type in which the ends of a single length of chain are anchored within an adjustment element which also slidingly accommodates a segment of chain adjacent an opposite end of the chain, whereby by a simple sliding movement therebetween, the effective length of the closed loop is varied to a desired degree. Devices of this general type are well known in the art, and the invention lies in specific constructional details which facilitate manufacture of the component parts, as well as the assembly thereof.
In the manufacture of jewelry, it is conventional to solder various components together for purpose of integration. Where the parts of the article of jewelry have no related motion after assembly, such procedure is entirely satisfactory. When resilient elements are involved, the heat developed during soldering operates to destroy non-metallic resilient components, and to anneal the resilient temper of metallic ones. Devices of the instant type, as a consequence, have not been easy to manufacture in a relatively inexpenive manner, and, as a result, such devices often have been manufactured of synthetic resinous materials to be used as neck straps for spectacles, and photographic equipment, or, when manufactured to include metallic adjustment element, the resilient components have been incorporated by resort to the resilient qualities possessed by a non-metallic strap in lieu of a metallic chain. Such modifications render the device unsuitable for use as decorative jewelry because of a resultant inherently functional appearance.
It is, of course, known in the jewelry art to provide caselike elements which mate in the manner of the parts of a watchcase. However, such elements are maintained in assembled condition either by force fitting or by cooperating detents which offer little mechanical strength when a plurality of components to be encased extend outwardly of the case and are subjected to tension in the plane of the case.